Page 40 - Bullion World Issue 1 May 2021

Bullion World | Issue 01 | May 2021
MALABAR

Chairman’s view

Mr. MP Ahammed
Malabar Group

At present, about 25% of the jewellery We applaud the government for reducing
retailing done by organised sector. customs duty on gold. However, the
Rest is through unorganised sector. incentives are still high for smuggling.
Compulsory hallmarking is a great The only solution, in our view, is to
opportunity for a player in unorganised reduce customs duty to the lowest
sector to move to organised sector. possible level (ideally zero) and instead
For your information, Malabar group, charge an equivalent amount as GST
has adopted hallmarking ever since it at the time of jewellery purchase. This
was launched in 1999. Every piece of would eliminate parallel trade. This is our
jewellery sold through our retail chain personal view.
is a hallmarked jewellery. It has helped
our business. We have also adopted There is also a great need for educating
responsible sourcing into our supply customers on the importance of buying
chain. with proper invoice. Increased customer
awareness would challenge parallel
trade.

Just as RBI releases a reference rate
for the currency pair, we believe,
government should release a single rate
for gold on a daily basis. This would
improve the overall business for all.

Mr. MP Ahammed laid the foundation of the Malabar Group along with an
eclectic team of entrepreneurs in 1993, with a jewellery showroom at Kozhikode.
Two decades later, the group has carved a niche of its own in jewellery retailing,
wholesaling and manufacturing; real estate and infrastructure development; home
furniture, electronics & home appliances; and IT services and business solutions.

Malabar Gold’s first showroom outside Kerala was set on 12th April 2005 in Bangalore.
Soon, on July 2008, Malabar opened its first showroom in GCC. Currently Malabar
Gold & Diamonds has more than 195 showrooms in 9 countries and is among the
top five jewellery retailers in the world.

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